LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



^ ^ Copyright Secured. 



J 



000 916 635 P 






CARROTS & CABBAGE, 

THEIR CULTURE COMPLETE. 



How to Raise One Acre of Cabbage as 
Cheaply as Two of Com. 

THEIR CULTURE IN FULL. 

How to Transplant Cabbage, Beets, 
Tobacco, &c., in a Dry Day, without 
Watering. 

A VERY SIMPLE COMPOSITION, WtllCH WILL DOUBLE 
THE BULK OF HEADS. 



EVERY MAN HIS 0¥I BAROMETER, 

&e.. Sec. 

HOW TO GET RICH FROM FIVE ACRES. 



BY H. J^. COOK, 

Hillsdale, Col. Co., N, Y. 

FOR SALE AT 37 PARK ROW, N. Y. (Room 10). 



I isr i:> E X. 



Kiiul of Soil for Carrots, . 5 

Sowing Carrots, C 

Tillina- 



Hoeing 
Weeding 
Digging 
Storins: 



10 
11 
12 
13 
15 



The Value of Carrots, 16 

Carrots vs. Other Roots, 17 

How to Raise and Clean the Seed, 18 

How to Select Good Seed, 19 

Raising Cabbage, 20 

Transplanting -Cabbage, 21 

Tilling ♦' 23 

Heading " 23 

Lice on ' " 24 

Gathering " 25 

Five Acres Enough, 2C 

To Make Plenty of Manure for these Five Acres, ... 27 

Every Man his own Barometer, 28 

"Weather Sayings, &c., 30 



\v 



TEN YEARS' EXPERIENCE 



I.\ R.\IST\0 



CAREOTS AND CABBAGE. 



H. A.. COOK, 

HiUsdale, Col. Co., N. Y. 



I 



Brown & Hewitt, Printers, 37 Park Row. 

] 866. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by 

H. A. COOK, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Scuthem 
District of New Yorlj. 



^l' 



^i^ 




INT 110 1) [MOTION. 



Haviijg obstM-ved from early youth by the little gardeD 
bed that carrots were a greatly productive crop, and the 
most nutritious root that I grew, I desired to tiy their 
cultivation ou a large scale. 

The idea seemed to be indelible on my mind, and as 
soon as age and circumstances would allow I essaved 
to gratify my desire. My great obstacle was Mr. Weed, 
which was bound to get ahead of my carrots ; but being 
somewhat indefatigable in my energies, I gave close 
application to years of experiments in devising a plan how 
I should raise then] without such a heavy tax uporj the 
back, which seemed to almost " crack " under the old 
system. I first saw that I must be careful in selecting 
my seed, then I must devise a plan to force it, and then 
seek a plan to sow it (seeing that I could not sow it 
with a drill), then I must devise a different mode of cul- 
tivation, and lastly a plan to gather them more easily. 

After having reduced my experiments to a system, and 
found that I could raise them with less than half the 
expense of the old way, I conceived the idea of putting 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

my plan of raising in the form of a pamphlet, and disclos- 
ing it to the world. While raising carrots I also 
experimented on cabbages, and found them also to be a 
remunerative crop. The success which I reached in 
raising them I attribute to a composition which I apply- 
to the roots, so that they may be transplanted in a dry 
day instead of a wet one, thereby leaving the ground 
mellow ; my entirely new mode of culture, and, lastly, 
my valuable composition (which is simple, cheap, and 
in the reach of all) for the heads, which augments the 
crop by half at least. Here, reader, I will leave you to 
peruse the following pages. 



TEN YEAIIS EXPERIENCE 



IN BAiatNO 



CARROTS AND CABBAGE. 



I estimate that 1 can raise one acre of carrots as easily 
as two acres of corn. Upon keeping a close account in 
the year 1SS4 of my expenses in raising an acre of 500 
bushels, I found it to be $50, aside from interest of land. 
At least he who will follow the instructions of the 
following pages may raise them jit a cost of 10 cents 
per bushel. 

Kind of Soil. — Should bi' the same as for corn. Loose 
ground, even, quite moist, will raise the largest carrots in 
a dr}' season, while a sandy or quite gravelly soil will do 
the best in a wet season. It is best to select a somewhat 
dry loom for the carrot patch. 

Plow the o:rouhd in autumn to kill all grass and 
weed roots, simultaneous!}' destroying many weed seeds, 
and level the plot well that it may be more easily 
leveled in spring. Manure should also be plowed under 
in the fall, that most of the weed seeds which it con- 
tains will be rendered lifeless by the action of the 
winter's frost. Hog manure composted with swaujp 
muck is the best. If from necessity you must manure 
in spring, look to it that your m;inure has no weed-seed 
in it. 



6 TEN YEARS' EXPRERIENCE IN 

. Never put carrots two years in succession upon the 
same ground, for they seem to be very exhausting to 
a certain ingredient of the soil necessary for their growth, 
and only applicable to their nature ; however, not render- 
ing the soil futile for almost any other crop, or apparently 
not diminishing its strength more than an ordinary corn 
crop. 

Kind of Seed. — The long orange is the best for 
nearly every purpose, although the white may grow as 
many bushels. Always get new seed, which you can 
designate by its being a lively green. Old seed is of a 
yellowish hue, and is much longer sprouting (a fact 
common to all old seeds). 

Sowing. — Sow as early as the dryness of the ground 
will admit — if it is done in April the larger will be 
the crop — but by all means never woi-k in, or he found on 
your ground when it is wet, if so, you will certainly be 
sorry. Make it your rule never to be on your patch 
wlien the dirt adheres to your hoe. 

Header, if you adopt the plan of these pages, please 
remember their italics. By sowing early — if you are a 
farmer — your weeding will be done before haying, and 
the carrots will be ripened to dig before the usual heavy 
fall rains come on. Carrots that have ripened before 
digging seem to have more solidity, and are not so watery 
as those which are sowed late, and consequently dug 
when srowins;. Hence we must draw the inference that 
early sowed carrots are worth more for feeding, as with 
any vegetable that ripens before gathering. These latter 
remarks are applicable to the 42d'=^ of latitude. Plow 
deeply, as they will root as deeply as you plow, if the 
soil extends as far. Level the ground that you may 
cover the carrots more nniformly, and that in tilling you 



RAISING CARROTS AND CABBAGK. 7 

may not work tlie dirt from the carrots in the higher 
places, consequently leave the root protruding above 
ground, nor choke those in lower places by working the 
dirt into the hollows. Never ridge the drill for carrots, 
for in tilling you necessarily work the dirt away, and 
my experience is, that carrots will not thrive best except 
the upper end of the carrot be allowed to keep a level 
with the surface of the ground. 

Harrow the last time in a contrary direction from 
which you design to sow. It pays well to handrake 
the ground before sowing. If the ground is sideling 
make your drills directly up and down the slope, that in 
tilling you may not work too nmch dirt upon the vpper 
side of the carrot. 

Now make a hand dray with thills and four prongs, 
or teeth, with the bottoms inclining backward (because 
if so, it will run more steady), and two feet apart. 
Make the bottoms of the teeth a little wedge shape — 
quite blunt. 

Now draw a line across your patch, and let one prong 
of the dray run close to it. Returning, let one prong 
follow the last mark back, straightening the crook. Set 
the line anew every timearound within two inches of the 
last mark, that you may the more easily keep your work 
straight, and all the drills a uniform distance apart, the 
imjDortance of which will be seen especially at the first 
-time of cultivating, and at the time of plowing them 
out in the fall, as 1 shall subsequently show. Do 
not dray out many nuu'ks ahead of sowing, as it is 
better to have fresh dirt come in contact with the 
seed. Three or four days before you wish to sow, 
moisten your seed thoroughly, and set it in a warmish 
place, say on the mantle-piece, near the stove pipe, 
stirring it once a day. If a few seeds should have 



8 TEN YKARS liXPKKIENfM'; LV 

sprouted a little at sowing time all is well ; but be 
cautious that they do not get too dry before covering. 
The best carrots I ever raised, and the most easily tilled, 
were sprouted the sixteenth of" an inch a,t sowing time. 
If the ground — from the effects of a late rain — has 
become too wet when you are ready to sow, and your 
seed is liable to sprout, put it in a bag that it may drain, 
and hang it in the cellar that the cool air of the cellar 
will keep it back. Do not keep it there more than 
twelve hours lest it rot, but bring it to the warm air for 
another twelve hours, till you think it again has a tenden- 
cy to germinate, when if the ground is not yet fit to sow, 
go with it to the cellar again. In this way I have kept 
it from sprouting for eight days before my ground was 
fit to sow because of the long rains, when, if I had kept 
it behind the stove pipe it would have spoiled. In 
five days after, sowing my carrots appeared above 
ground. 

The utility of soaking the 'seed is this, — the carrots 
will come up quick, consequently get far the start of the 
weeds ; you can go among them with a horse and cul- 
tivator before hoeinfj, besides savini? once weedini? and 
hoeing, — in fine, half the expense of raising is saved by 
sprouting the seed, or rather swelling it till it is just 
ready to sprout. With the seed prepared in this wise, 
probably no crop is more sure to grow and be produc- 
tive of a satisfactory yield than the carrot crop. 

But how shall we sow this soaked seed whicii 
sticks to everything so ? About an hour before you 
wish to sow spread it out very thinly in pans in the 
sun, and wind it till it becomes non-adhesive ; but be 
cautious that you do not dry it back to its original state, 
lest you kill it ; however, there is not much danger 
of this ; now turn a dinner horn (say about two feet 



KAISINC! CAKKOTS AND CAP.HAGK. 9 

long) bottom up, enlarges llio orifice at tlio lower end 
that the seed will not clog within it. See to it that 
your seed is not too moist, else you cannot sift it through 
the fingers evenly, and it will clog in the horn. Hold 
the horn with a gill cup full of seed in the left hand. 
Sitt the seed into the horn with the thumb and two 
front fingers of the right hand. The horn being conical 
the seed will rattle down its sides and seem to come out 
as evenly as you could place them with the fingers, if 
you move along with the horn with a uniform step. If 
nature has given you a long back you must get a long 
horn, lest you may not have the " back-ache." Now 
traverse your drill which you have just made with your 
dray with the little end of your horn close to the bottom 
of tlje drill, especially if the wind blows, sowing with 
your fingers in the top of the horn, whicli, after you 
have become used to doing, you will perform about as 
fast as you can w'alk. Have a boy cover after you with 
a piece of hoop iron, say eight inches long, nailed to a 
hoe handle. Apiece of old cradle scythe is better, being 
a little sharp. See that he covers all, and none more 
than a half inch dee[). Do not sow much before cover- 
ing, as the soaked seed will dry too nmch for its good. 
About two pounds of seed per acre is required, yet one 
and a half will do uniformly sown ; better to have them 
too thick than too thin. Sow about four times as much 
seed as you wish to have if they all grew well, for many 
will not appear, especially if you have a few lumps or 
smallstones inyourground ; besides, in cultivating and til- 
ling you will accidentally destroy many, and, moreover, 
it is better to have them conie up too thick — for then you 
can pull theui out — than too thin, for you cannot trans- 
plant them and have them do well. By thus sowing 
with a horn von can see if you make a mistake, whereas 



10 TEX years' experience in 

with a drill you cannot. For this reason I never have 
or will have a drill ; besides, if your seed is a little 
moist a drill will clog, therefore with a drill you must 
sow dry seed, which is generally about three weeks 
" coming up," while the weeds generally will hide the 
carrots, and it is like finding a honey bee's teeth to find 
the carrots among the weeds. 

With a small boy I can sow one and a half acres per 
day, and I estimate that is sowing them fast enough. 
Sow as soon as the ground is plowed, if convenient, to 
get the start of the weed seed. 

After sowing use a heavy hand roller to pulverize the 
lumps ; the morning is the preferable time to use the 
roller, as the lumps are then moist and break easily. It 
is said that the heavier (if the ground is dry) they are 
rolled the better. A friend informs me theat this was 
also proven in England, by a horse rolling upon a carrot 
patch ; it w^as found that where he rolled the carrots 
were much larger than elsewhere. 

A roller can be made by any cobbler from a piece 
of log 2i feet in length. An old thrashing machine 
cylinder, minus the teeth, makes an excellent roller. 
When you have done rolling the carrot patch it is then 
useful for other plots. 

Tilling. — Begin as soon as yon can see the rows, 
especially if you have a large piece. Having nearly or 
quite sprouted your seed before sowing, you will be 
enabled to take your horse, led by a boy, into the 
patch, and cultivate them the first thing, as you would 
corn, for they are now two inches above the weeds. 
Loosen the dirt deeply. When a plant is young is the 
time to give it deep tillage, that the fibrous roots can 
shoot out without obstruction — this should be observed 



T?ATSINr4 CARROTS AND CABUAOE. 1 1 

ill all tillage. What would you tliink of liiiii who did 
not dig about a tree wliicli he wishes to hastily become 
largo, till its fibrous roots had become all twisted by 
their strenuous elibrts to pusli through the hard ground V 
We should at once say that his tree would be dwarfish. 
So it is with carrots emphatically. A deep culture in 
all plants till there is danger of wounding the rootlets, 
which are shootinnr out into the ijround made mellow 
by the deeply •plunged cultivator or plow, as the first 
cultivation is far the best. But do not practice the cor- 
responding error of leaving deep cultivation too soon. 

Having sowed the rows on a line uniformly two feet 
apart, and the cultivator, which should have but three 
teeth, as more will clog, set to the width of eighteen 
inches, we can now see the utility of having the rows 
straight. Should the dirt accidentally cover some, let the 
boy go through the patch with a broom and sweep them 
a little, — it seems to do the plants good rather than 
injure thein. Go through twice in each row, as once 
seems to just loosen the weeds so that they grow better 
than before. You should have sowed them thick enough 
to allow for what the hoi'se may destroy. 

Hoeing. — Procure small square cornered hoes, which 
are of the best steel, and grind them as sharp as 
possible. I would no more think of hoeing in my 
garden without a ground hoe than I would of hoeing 
without meals, for cutting up weeds with a dull hoe is 
like cutting grass with a dull scythe — it is the hardest of 
all work, while with a sliarp hoe it is comparatively easy. 
This is one reason why many dislike to work in the gar- 
den. Having groimd the hoo, send an experienced man 
— who should be al)le to strike almost within a hair's 
breadth of a carrot and not hit it — to clip out what 



12 LEN years' EXPEKIEACE IN 

weeds he can get at with his hoe, also to thin them as 
much as possible with his hoe, but not to weed with his 
fingers, tor his back is too long, and his time worth too 
much. If he understands his business the job of weeding 
with the fingers is but a small one. Cultivating and hoe- 
ing should be done when the ground is very dry. 

Weeding. — Weeding should not be done when the 
ground is very dry, as the weeds are liabl^e to break off 
to sprout again more than when the ground is moist ; 
however, if your patch is large continue' to weed about 
as fast as you hoe, for fear it will not be done ; yet bear 
in mind never to go on your ground when it is wet. 
Now employ boys whom you pay by the row — for then, 
they have a greater stimulus to work — whose backs are 
shorter than men's, and who, if of tlie proper calibre, 
will weed as fast as men at much less cost, and do it 
easier. Of course they will want the superintendent's 
eye over them. Thin them at the first weeding to two 
or three inches asunder. I verily believe I can get more 
tons of carrots pei' acre if they are one foot asunder 
than otherwise, but it is more work to attend them 
when small, and keep the weeds down. You will 
observe even at the first weedinir that the scatterincr ones 
are the largest, conclusively proving that they should 
be thinned early. In fine, loo much cannot be done to 
them when young, and it ivill pay. Still, I would not 
have the reader believe that he has a great task to raise 
them, for I set out in the beginning with the assertion 
that one acre of carrots can be raised as easily as two of 
corn. It is useless to transplant them. 

Do not go among them with a horse after the bottoms 
become the size of a man's finger, for if you muss the 
tops about at that size you are sure to stunt them. Do 



RAISIXC. CARROTS AND CABBAGR. 1.3 

not take from, nor adil to the dirt about their bottoms, 
after they become the above size. You will also stunt 
them (somewhat like beans) if you work among them 
when wet, which they will show you by their tops fall- 
ing and turning a pale yellow. When doing well they 
will stand erect and be of a dark green color. When 
they have turned yellow in the fall the presumption is 
that they are ripe and fit to dig. The same is true of 
nearly all roots. 

Should weeds appear after the last hoeing, take a sharp 
hoe and clip among them, frequently using the hand to 
pull the weeds, being very cautious not to disturb the 
carrot. 

Now that cultivation is done, see to it that fowls, 
pigs, or other animals are not allowed to ramble among 
them, for they will not do well if disturbed. If you 
even run your finger about the top of the root you will 
stunt it. No root is so healthy or more sure to grow 
and do well than the carrot, if the instructions of the 
foregoing pages are thoroughly adhered to, and they 
excel all other crops after the root begins to show, in 
" standing" excessively dry or wet weather. 

Digging. — Let them remain in the ground as long as 
you dare for fear of warm weather, as they will keep 
best in the ground till quite late; however, if you have 
a large patch begin in time to secure them before the 
ground freezes. Choose a dry spell in wliich to dig 
them as they are so much cleaner to handle, and being 
clean are certainly worth more for stock. It is not poli- 
cy to feed dirt to any kind of stock, yet the more dirt 
adheres to roots of any kind the better those toots will 
keeji. 



14 'raN YEARS* EXPERIENCE IN 

Firstly, mow the tops as clD^ely with a scythe as pos- 
sible, and pile in a convenient place to cover over your 
carrots after they are dug, for it is necessary to put them 
in heaps of about thirty bushels, that they may go through 
the sweating or drying process. Three or four days be- 
fore putting into the cellar, or hole (so ought you with any 
root), then cover them with the said tops to keep them 
dry ; still the tops are poor things to keep the frost out 
— straw is better, unless you wish to sell them, in which 
case get them off as soon as possible, for they will 
weigh more when first dug, for after being above ground 
a little they shrink in weight and size. These tops are 
very fine for stock as they come at a time when all 
other field fodder has become dry or frost bitten. I have 
concluded that an acre of carrot tops is worth as much 
for my milch cows as the hay that would have grown 
on a similar piece. Perhaps it would not feed quite as 
far at the time, but I think it would make as much milk. 

Now, after having mowed and raked off the tops, send 
a boy with a sharp hoe to cut them off again close to 
the butt end of the root. Take a team with a large 
plow (which is adapted to turn a furrow directly bottom 
side up), and run it as deeply as possible along the out- 
side of the first row, with the land side of plow about 
four inches from the carrot row ; after thus passing 
through the patch, wheel and go back to the place of 
beginning without plowing. Now, setting the plow at 
the place of beginning, go through again, keeping at 
this time the carrot row (which has just been cut off,) 
a little to the right of the plow beam ; perhaps it is nec- 
essary for one to lean on the beam. Now you will turn 
the carrots upon the edge of the last furrow ; here you will 
again see the utility of having the rows straight. Take 
a potatoe hook (or which is better, an old potatoe hook 



KAISTNG PARROTS AND CABBAaE. I-') 

wliich the blarksmitlj lias drawn out to small, long, and 
round tines) and rake the carrots out upon the top of the 
ground to dry. Thus proceed with each row, always 
plowing through twice to a row if the carrots are two 
feet apart and your plow is small, but if your plow is 
larger tlian ordinary two horse land plows, you may 
succeed in plowing out a carrot row every time the 
team goes through. If you break or bruise a carrot it 
will not harm it if they are ripe. A carrot broken into 
a dozen pieces will keep as well as if it were whole. In 
this way I have had a man and boy dig and pick up 
ninety-five bushels in one 'day, although it was a short 
day of Novembei". 

After they are dug carrots are the pleasantest of all 
roots to handle, easily " picked up," quite light to carry, 
and very accurately measured in a large basket. 

Storing. — After they have remained in heaps above 
ground and dried thoroughly, which is the whole secret 
of having them keep w^ell thiough the winter, they 
may be put in the cellar in a large bin with impunity, 
to be kept till sowing time again, although it is not 
advisable to have many left after the middle of April. 

After they are dried in the heaps they should be 
hauled over again and buried beneath plenty of straw 
and dirt, though they need not be secured with manure 
like potatoes, for it does not hurt them to freeze a little 
if they may stay .beneath the dirt till it has drawn out 
the frost. From this we might suppose that they would 
keep in the ground without digging all winter, yet they 
will not. I suppose the main reason is because one end 
of the carrot comes to the smtace. 

Should they fr(^eze in the heaps at digging time before 
you get them secured, throw some dirt upon them till 



16 TEN years' EXPERIEXCK IN 

the frost is out, or take them to the cellar as quickly as 
possible, to esca2>e the sun, and likewise put on a little 
dirt. This page is also mostly applicable to the 42d de- 
gree of latitude. 

On Long Island carrots are buried without straw, 
with a little chimney in the centre. Probably this mode 
of burying will do on a sandy soil, but I think not on a 
soil of loam. 

The value of Carrots. — It is generally admitted that 
the carrot is the most nutritious of all roots. But the 
great desideratum has been it takes so much time and 
patience to raise them, and many have concluded and 
howled their conclusions abroad, that (because they did 
not know how to raise them) it was an awful job to 
raise them, and moreover, they were very uncertain to 
come up. 

No root can be used in so many ways with such 
srrand results as the carrot. Feed them to the horse and 

o 

he keeps on much less grain and hay, drinks less, his 

coat slickens (and that which makes his coat shine does 

him good surely), not so liable to take cold, does not 

fever up when standing still. To learn a horse to eat 

them cut a few very fine and mix with his oats. 

You can with carrots make as fine butter in winter 
as summer by feeding them to the cow, or by grating 
them and squeezing out the juice and putting it in the 
cream. 

Sheep are very fond of them and fatten fast. Hogs 
will winter well on them, better if boiled. With boiled 
carrots, and one quart of meal per day, I will make a 
three hundred store hog so fat, that a man of seventy-five 
years can catch him in an open field. Then for a fine 
pie they are first in the catalogue of kitchen vegetables, 



RAISING CARROTS AND CARBAOK. 17 

likewise for coffee, pickles, soup, &c., &c. A clip from 
the Covnirii Gentleman by this Author : 

Carrots versus other Roots. — Your correspondent 
J. V. K., Seneca Falls, N. Y., wishes a " short account," 
&c., about raising turnips, beets and carrots for dairy 
use. You have appended some useful remarks in an- 
swer. Please allow me to add a few more. I have been 
engaged in root raising to the extent of many hundred 
bushels each year for several years, both for my farm 
stock and marketing. I have experimented in French 
turnips, beets and carrots, and consider the carrot decid- 
edly superior to any other root. Reasons — Beets re- 
quire 'as much labor as carrots — no, say you, but you 
do not know my mode of raising carrots yet — they 
nuist needs be transplanted ; they wither Uiore after 
pulling, will not keep as long, are superior for no stock 
to the carrot ; horses do not love them ; they will not 
make yellow butter like carrots ; will not make a fine 
pie like carrots. In consuming theui stock is obliged to 
eat too much dirt; and more, if you would have them 
keep at all good, you must put them away with much 
dirt. Not so with carrots, if they are thoroughly 
dried. These same remarks are also applicable to 
the turnip, except that they are easier raised than either 
beet or carrot. But even the beet far surpasses 
/them for milk or fattening; they require cutting, and 
then seem to hurt the creature's mouth. Hogs do 
not like them except boiled, and then are not eager 
for them, wliile they can be well wintered with either 
of the first two. Witli boiled carrots and one quart of 
meal per day, I will fatten a three hundred store hog so 
fat that a man of seventy-five years can catch him in an 
open field. Besides, carrots are the cleanest root (if dug 
when the ground is dry, as they should be), and lighter 
to handle because clean. Therefore, for the aforesaid 
reasons I have ignored raising other roots besides the 
carrot, except, perhaps, a few French turnips after some 
early crop, rather than have the ground go to weeds, 
and even then I think perhaps it is better to plant the 
ground to marrowfat beans, nnh^ss a few turnips are de- 



18 TEN years' EXPLIHENCE IN 

sired for table use. I have not spoken of lield turnips. 
I always laise what I can of them, for they don't cost 
much, and are not worth much. 

A word in regard to the aforesaid idea that " carrots 
can be raised easier than any other root." I find that 
I can raise one acre of carrots as easy as two of £orn ; or 
at the expense often cents per bushel, believing thiit the 
tops for stock will pay for gathering. In abstracting 
my niode of raising them, I would say, that I consider 
them the most sure of all seeds to come up, if I can se- 
lect and manage the seed ; that with me I can get them 
up in five days after sowing two inches ahead of weeds. 
I can sow one and a half acres a day with a boy. I 
would not take a drill as a gift. Having so much the 
start of the weeds, I go among them with a horse culti- 
vator of my own invention. I dig them without hand- 
ling them till they are ready to put into the cart. In 
fine I will say, that he who farms without his carrot 
patch, ought to be classed among the old fogy farmers 
of the past centurv. 

H. A. Cook. 
Hillsdale, Dec. 4, 1865. 

How to raise and clean the Seed. — This, too, is very 
profitable far from cities where good land is cheap, for 
I estimate with proper care $200 or $300 worth can 
be grown to the acre. Set them out as early as the 
state of the ground will admit, by the use of a crowbar, 
about two and a half feet asunder, and hoe them often 
if you wish nice, plumj) seed. Weeds should not be 
allowed to grow among them, as the heads will fall down 
among them and mildew. They should be tied or poled 
up, as it will save a large percentage of the heads ; never 
touch the blossoms lest you blast them, and a false head 
is the result. When they are all brown cut them, and 
lay them away in an upper chamber till a cold, north- 
wnnd day of winter, when lay thera upon a tight floor 
and whip off the seed (if you have but a small lot) with 



R\TSTXG CARROTS AND CABBAfiE. 19 

a pliant stick. Sort out the stalks, tlu'U continue to 
whip the seed till that little fuzz which adheres to 
every seed is entirely separated, then sieve and blow 
away the chaft' as best you may. Do not attempt to 
sink tlieni in water, as it will be fruith^ss. They are 
very difficult to clean, yet with care it pays largely. I 
would advise any one to change his seed at least every 
other year, as they will then grow much more prolific, 
botli as regards raising the root or seed. 

Hotr to select good Seed. — New seed is of a deep green 
color, and should be plump and even in size. Old seed 
is of a yellowish hue, and dead cast, and is much longer 
germinating than new seed. In fine, never sow old 
seeds of any kind, because they are always tardy in 
sprouting. I have seen carrot seed three years old come 
and do well, but it was a great task to keep down the 
weeds, for the carrots were so long in coming to the 
surface. I never practice buying many seeds from the 
sixpenny papers found at the stores, for I have no chance 
to examine them. They are often old seed, or if not 
entirely so, a large percentage almost invariably is old 
seed. 

A true Saying. — Take care of the weeds, for " one 
year's seeding, makes seven year's weeding." This re- 
mark should ever be fresh in the gardener's mind. 



^0 TEN years' experience IN 



RAISING CABBAGE. 

Next to the carrot crop, I consider that cabbages will, 
considering the amount of labor, bring the best and 
quickest returns if managed according to the following 
pages. 

In latitude north of 41° but one crop in a season 
should be attempted, in which case the " winter drum- 
head " variety is probably the most profitable, and the 
most marketable. In more southern latitudes the Sugar 
Loaf and Early York are probably the best early varieties, 
which may be succeeded the same season by the winter 
Drumhead, in wliich case, the early variety should be 
started in the fall in a cold frame, and haste must be ob- 
served in putting in the second crop as soon as the first 
will do to go to market. Have your plants ready of a 
goodly size for the second sitting. 

Select strong ground and manure well, but not with 
hog manure for this will cause many club-footed cab- 
bages. My experience is, that it will effect them thus in 
a measure even two years after it is put on. Do not 
work your ground when it is wet. If you are in Lat. 
41° construct a cold frame (or, as it is often called, a hot 
bed) as early as the ground will admit, in which to sow 
your cabbage seed. Sow in drills that you may till 
them somewhat, as every plant of whatever kind should 
be cultivated when young, which is a great defect of 
most cultivators. I have heard some remark in that lat- 
itude that they did not wish to set out their winter cab- 
bage too early, lest some of them burst betore gathering 
time, but it is my observation that he who sowed late 



RATSTXO TAEROTS AND PARBAGE. 2^ 

was troubled more with false or loose heads in the fall 
than with burst heads, while he has the privilege of tak- 
ing out his heads that get ripe so early as to burst, and 
either use or sell them. However, I assert that I 
can make them head if the soil will grow them in time. 

Transplanting. — Do not perform this when the 
ground is wet. Here is where I ditier from all other 
cultivato)s. Do not allow an animal or human being upon 
the ground when it is wet, if you do, look for hard and 
lumpy ground when it becomes dry. Stretch a line 
across your patch ; if it is sideling, stretch it up and 
down the slope, so that when you cultivate the young 
plants you will not be liable to throw dirt u[)on them. 
Now make a thick solution of water, muck, plaster 
(plaster of paris) and ashes, and draw your young 
plants (about a half dozen at once) through this solu- 
tion, when each plant will have a little clump of mix- 
ture adhering to it. Do not dip them directly <7r)?w/ into 
the mixture, if so the little rootlets will turn up and 
cleave to the sides, and not be of any use to the plant 
when set out, when they are very essential to its pros- 
perity. The muck and plaster are both adhesive, draw- 
ing moisture and giving strength to the young {>lant, atid 
causing it to stand as erect heneath the rays of a midday 
sun as if it had not beeu transplanted, while the avshes not 
only give strength to the plant, but have a tendency to 
keep awav the gruh that often commits such depreda- 
tions among the young plants. Do not allow the sun 
upon the young plants during the process of transplant- 
ing, nor take up too many at a time. Let not over a 
half hour elapse between taking up and setting. Place 
them in a pan with care that you do not dirty nor break 
the leaves (as they are the lungs of the plant). Let the 



22 TEN tears' experience in 

leaves get a pretty good size, as the grub has less time 
to work at them after they are transplanted. 

Now, having stretched your line across the patch, 
take a sharpened hard wood stick, one and a half inches 
diameter, two and a half feet long, rather bluntly sharp- 
ened, that the dirt will not so easily fill the hole which 
it makes, and of hard wood that it will not dull easily. 
Now take your pan of plants in one hand, and stick in 
the other, sticking holes about two feet asunder, and 
dropping a plant to each hole, while a faithful boy who 
is honest to do his duty, and will not curl up the roots, 
setting just a little deeper than they were in the bed, 
and pinching the bottom of the hole as well as the 
top lirmly about the root as he sets the plants, the 
neglect of which will result in the loss of many plants. 
In this way, in the middle of a hot day, I have set out 
four hundred plants per hour, when two successive hot 
days followed, and not over five -per cent, of the plants 
even wilted from the effects of the sun's rays. The 
ground was free from lumps and loose all about the 
plants the season through. When gathering time came 
those which were thus set out had nearly double the 
bulk of heads in comparison with those which were 
transplanted when the ground was wet. 

The main reason was, the little rootlets had mellow 
ground to push out into all the season ; while lumps and 
hard ground must abound, especially on loose ground, 
to some extent, when the ground is wet enough to trans- 
plant without the composition. But we will not stop 
to consider the convenience of transplanting in a dry 
day rather than a wet one, for what gardener has not 
been bedaubed with wet and mud from head to foot 
transplanting cabbage. So much then for our compost 



EAISING CARROTS AND CABBAGE. 23 

on the roots. With beets, tobacco, &c., this compost 
gives the same .result. 

Set the line off again two feet and proceed as before. 
It is not necessary to have them in rows but one way, 
that you may go among them with a horse, but that 
way have them precisely straight, the utility of which 
will become manifest when you come to cultivate. If 
the grubs eat them, sprinkle them every third morning 
while the dew is on with a little dust of ashes — say a 
teaspoonful. Where one is eaten offtake the trouble to 
dig out the grub, or he is liable to take off several suc- 
cessive ones. 

Tilling. — The plants should be hoed a little about 
the third morning after they are set out, and then scratch 
about them a little every week — if oftener it's all the better. 
Stir the ground deeply, at least twice with the plow. 
Till them in the morning, though a bean never should 
be tilled in the morning. It is not necessary to go 
among them with a horse till the leaves become as large 
as your hand, when stir the ground deeply ; deep culture 
is the great desideratum with any good crop. See to it 
that you strike the corner of your hoe down deeply be- 
side the young plants, that the side rootlets may be 
unobstructed in their coui-se. Early cabbage may be 
planted nearer than two feet. 

Heading Cabbage. — The most important part, for a 
good crop, is yet to be performed. After having tilled 
them enough, you can yet make half difference in 
number and bulk of heads. You have hoed often and 
tilled deeply, which are essential, yea, indispensable to a 
good growth, while in the meantime the leaves can be 
forced to curl up and form the head, and not retard the 



24 TEN years' experience in 

growth, but, on the contrary, fjicilitate it. This is done 
by the use of another mixture of salt and plaster, two- 
thirds of the former to one of the latter. When the 
leaves are about half size, and the inner leaves just com- 
mence curling, sprinkle in each plant about a teaspoon- 
ful of the njixture when the cabbages are damp. In 
about two weeks sprinkle them again, adding with im- 
punity a little more of the mixture. Thus, I estimate 
* you will get $10 per day for your time in applying it, and 
S5 a quart for your mixture, for it is evident to my mind 
that the crop can thus be increased nearly half. If you 
choose to have every head lay close to the ground you 
can do so by commencing with this mixture early and 
applying frequently, and hilling up the dirt slightly. 
Let the quantity of the mixture generally be governed by 
the size of the plant. By aflat culture and withholding 
the mixture till the cabbage has its height, you may 
grow tall cabbage but not the bulk of heads. 

Cabbaa-e Lice. — Durins; the seasons of 1864 and '65, 
it being so dry, they were great pests. They are of a 
slate color, with many legs, greatly inclined to assem- 
blages, and very hardy, for a severe frost does not seem 
to harm them. If they are very thick upon a head they 
will greatly deter it from heading, and, being very similar 
to stock lice, will cause the body to dwindle, and in many 
cases die from their efiects. Wet weather seems to af- 
fect them more even than September frosts. However, 
in ordinarily wet seasons, I think they are not much to 
be feared. The only way I have ever mastered them 
was to sprinkle soot or fine ashes upon them when they 
were damp. The lye of the ashes is more than they 
can stand. The ashes should be finely sifted that no 
particles of fine coal, &c., will be found in the head. 



RAISIVG CARROTS AXD OABHAdK. 2o 

Gathering. — Let them stand (your winter heads) till 
you fear tlie ground will freeze so hard that you cannot 
pull them. Two inches of frost (that is, when the 
ground freezes two inches,) will not hurt the heads if 
they remain till the ground lins drawn all the frost out. 
If they are pulled ere the moisture of the earth has done 
this complete they will not keep as well. VVinter cab- 
bage will continue to head till late in the fall, if the 
weather is not too s<;vere. 

Procure a crotchet stick with a long handle (willow 
wood is best, because the lightest) and run it under 
each head, lift it, and tin'n the head upside down, 
hitting the roots with one prong of the crotch to knock 
off the dirt, but not so hard as to sever the head from 
the stump. If you wish to retain the root this mode of 
pulling will be a great saving to the back, if you lio not, 
cut out the heads as you like. But you need not expect 
them to keep hard long unless the root is retained. The 
leaves and stumps are excellent for stock, being green at 
a time when nearly all else is frost-bitt(;n, and will go 
far in paying for raising the crop — a half aci'e bearing 
many side board loads of fine, fresh leaves, as refuse from 
the marketable heads. 

Dig a trench the depth of the length of the stem, in 
which transplant the loose ones two heads in width and 
as chjsely as possible, lengthwise with the trench, plac- 
ing a board on each side, simultaneously pressing the 
heads together slightly, and cover with straw and dirt se- 
curely from the mice and water. In Spring, if you have 
not pressed them too hard, these loose heads will all be 
hard and as fresh as in autumn. Yet it is u question in 
my mind v^^hether they are not worth as much for the 
cow as to bury, considering the labor. Do not open 



26 TEN years' experience in 

them till the frost has left them, but do it as soon, lest 
they begin to rot. Like all buried vegetation they will 
not keep long after being exposed to the air. It will 
not do to transplant hard-heads thus, for they are apt to 
burst. They should be turned bottom up in the trench 
and covered as before, in northern latitudes, but in south- 
ern latitudes a dirt covering is sufficient, leaving the 
roots to the air. They should never be thrown promis- 
cuously in the cellar as they will wilt, and then they 
are poor food. For winter's use put the roots in dirt in 
the cellar, guarding against mice and rats. A good 
plan is to put the roots in a tub filled in with dirt, then 
you have fresh cabbage at any time. In short, properly 
managed, cabbages are a very profitable crop, still they 
do not seem to be very exhausting to the soil. Like 
other garden crops rotation is necessary. Remember mid 
not use hog manure for cabbage, lest they head in the ground. 

Five acres enough. — Thus with five acres of 2;ood 
land well manured, and planted to carrots and cabbage, 
tilled and harvested accordins: to the instructions of this 
pamphlet, any industrious and saving man, with, or 
without a family, may be on the high road to wealth. 
At the same time he is not a slave to manual labor, 
although it will be necessary for him to be alive springand 
fall. There are no two crops of vegetables in more de- 
mand or more sure to yield a good return for labor. 
Ten years ago the first man who raised carrots to sell in 
my town found hard work to sell twenty bushels at the 
low price of twenty cents per bushel. Now, say for the 
last two years, a neighbor and myself have found a home 
market for one thousand bushels at 45 and 60 cents per 
bushel, although the number of inhabitants have but 



RAISING CARROTS AND CARIUaE. 27 

slightly increased. The demand is yearly increasing rap- 
idly, till now many farmers think they cannot winter 
stock healthy (verily they cannot) without roots, and have 
concluded that carrots are the best root, containing the 
least per cent, of water, cleanest to feed, and the lightest 
to handle. Each property alone is very essential. A few 
fed to the horse each day gives him a slick coat, and 
that which gives a slick coat gives health, keeps him 
from catching cold, and saves much grain and hay. 
Store hogs can be wintered finely with carrots without 
any grain. A few fed to the cow, or a little juice 
squeezed into the cream, gives a rich yellowish color 
to the butter. Sheep fatten rapidly upon them. Cut 
up to the size of corn kernels and browned, they 
make an excellent coffee. Boiled, and forced through a 
cullender, they make a fine pie. For pickles and soup, 
they are excellent. In short, there is no vegetable that 
can be used more advantageously considering their cost 
than the carrot. 

Here I need not discuss the value of cabbage, for 
the oldest inhabitant knows fully of its value as a vege- 
table, and with the two simple and accessible composi- 
tions, mentioned in the foregoing pages, used in trans- 
planting and heading, they are very profitable, for with 
these two compositions, I aver that I will make twic'e 
the bulk of heads per acre to the man who does not use 
them, providing he does not bestow any more labor than 
I in tilling. 

To make plenty of manm'efor these vegetables. — This is 
a great desideratum in raising vegetables. In gardening 
five acres I think I could make my own manure from 
that alone, and surely if I could have access to muck, I 



28 TEN years' experience in 

would plant say four acres to carrots and cabbage (say 
I will raise only these vegetables for my selling crop). 
Now, I should want for mine and family's use, a horse, 
cow and hog, which I should keep in the following way : 
I would sow in drills a half acre of corn thickly for 
fodder, running through it a little with cultivator and 
hoe, to get some ears for to boil with some carrots for 
my hog, and some for other uses, perhaps. Now I shall 
have to buy but very little hay and grain. I have left 
one half acre for house, garden and some potatoes. Now 
I will keep my horse and cow in stable and yard. Put 
in twenty loads of muck under my stables, in my hog 
pen and barn yard, to catch those valuable juices which 
are generally lost (and these are the vitals of the soil), 
throwing in all my waste mould, and thereby make 
about forty loads of manure, which, applied to the five 
acres every year, will make it quite rich enough. How 
many industrious but poor men, with families, are cleav- 
mg to New York trying to start some little business in 
which they may prosper, but can get no chance from 
the fact that every conceivable opportunity is taken up. 
How much better to start out and lease (if they cannot 
buy) even a five acre plot, and go to raising vegetables 
according to the foregoing pages. Methinks the high- 
way to success and wealth, with economy and health, 
would surely appear. 

Every man his oicn Barometer. — In connection with 
gardening, it is very essential that we be able, with a 
degree of certainty, to foretell the weather, which, in 
nine times out of ten we may do about as accurately 
as the mercurial barometer, by philosophizing with 
nature's laws, and certain time-honored observations 
called signs of the weather. I will notice some of the 



RAISING CARROTS AND CABBAGE. 29 

indications of a storm. The clouds look heavy and red 
in the east at early morn. The smoke settles to the 
ground. You smell what they are cooking in yonder 
house. The sun comes forth at sunrise, giving a vvliite 
light, and soon disappears in the clouds. " Thunder in 
the morning, sailors take warning." The fowls get on 
the fence and pick themselves. The ducks skip in the 
water. Stock is dainty about eating. " The fog runs 
up hopping — the rain conies down dropping." Tobacco 
leaves are limber. Circle around the sun or moon — 
however, if stars can be seen in the moon's circle the 
storm is in the distance. The sun draws water. A 
rainbow in the morning. If it rains when the sun 
shines, look for a three days' rain, and of a surety the 
next day. The dog eats grass. The stones under the 
grass and in the cellar are moist. The outside of the 
tin pail or jug sweats, as we say. You observe the 
smallest cloud to magnify and grow large rapidly. The 
leaves of the poplar and cherry trees turn bottom up. 
Plenty of snakes are seen running about. The partridge 
drums. The mountains look black. You hear voices and 
noises unusually plain at a distance. The noise of. the car 
is plain at a distance. Smoke usljers from the stove into 
the room. After a storm, if it clears in nighttime, we 
may expect a storm soon again. If the swallows fly 
near the ground we may expect a storm near at hand. 
Fish jump out of the water. Water boils away rapidly. 
The hair of stock looks smooth. We smell the skunk 
— smell the sweat of horses when ridinc: alonij. The 
tree toad hollows. Bui the best indication of all is the 
following. If, upon blowing out your candle at night, 
the spark goes out quickly, prepare for a storm and vice 
versa. With the majority of these signs before us, and 
the wind in the South, we had better prepare for a storm. 



30 TEN years' experience in 

However, all signs fail in a drouth. But drouths are 
few and far between. It is not necessary in this place to 
philosophize upon these indications. Yet if the reader 
is somewhat posted ih natural j^hilosophy, he will have 
no difhculty in making these indications liarnionize with 
the laws of nature. 

With the supposition that we are now in the midst 
of a storm in summer, we will look about to notice some 
of the fair weather signs. The sky and sun look red at 
night. If it rains very early in the morning (not having 
rained during the night) generally look for a good day. 
"If it rains before seven it will clear before eleven," is 
quite a reliable saying. Wliiri winds are almost sure 
signs of dry weather. Now the wind gets in the north, 
the fug moves southward, and the sun appears but not 
drawing water. The lark comes forth with her song, 
and every piece of nature's handiwork seems, as it were, 
to throw ofi' its shackles of solitude ; cognizant that the 
king of day will reign, however terrible may liave been 
the storm. We need not expect much rain when the 
moon is overhead, however severe may appear the storm. 
Thus, by a little careful observation, we may have a 
miniature barometer in reason's temple, better to be re- 
lied upon than all the barometrical mechanism conceived 
by the wisdom of man. 

Weather Sayhigs. — The direction of the wind at the 
vernal equinox, thus it will be most of the season. Long 
icicles indicate deep snows. Three frosts and then a 
rain. When the wild geese go north spring is about to 
open, a saying only worthy of notice above the 42d° of 
latitude. A dusty summer, a snowy winter, which will 
only appear in northern latitudes. If winter comes in 
quietly it will go out boldly. If it storms the first 



RAISING CARKOTS AND CABBAGE. 31 

Sunday of a month it will storin overy Sabbath but one, 
and so with any other day of the week. Choose full 
moons for ftiirs and concerts, &c. Our heaviest snows 
come from the northwest. If the first snow goes ofl" with 
a rain, all will. So many fogs in February, so many 
frosts in May, and about the same day of the month. A 
winter fog will freeze a dog — that is, in a few days. A 
storm will not amount to much when the moon is over- 
head. A cold, wet May fills the barn with grain and 
hay. Thunder in spring is indicative of cold w^eather. 
If chanticleer crows on his roost at evening, there will 
be a chantre in the weather before mornins?. In winter, 
after a storm, the second clear day is the coldest. If 
grass grows in March, it will be frozen in May — ap- 
plicable to northern latitudes. When the whippoor- 
will hollows, expect warm weather. The second of 
February is Candlemas day. So far as the sun shines in so 
far the snow will blow in — applicable to northern lati- 
tudes. If it clears off near two o'clock p. m., w^e may 
expect a fair day to-morrow, if at two o'clock A. m., we 
had better prepare for another storm. Make ready for a 
severe storm at the vernal and autumnal equinox. 
Weather calculations are subject to so many variations 
that no invariable rule or theory can be established. Yet 
with a close observation of the foregoing signs and say- 
ings, we may predict the weather with quite a reliable 
certainty. With such a strict observance the farmer 
and gardener may often save himself much labor, and 
save his crops from the exposure of the storm. 



"A 



iifiyairp.@i TS/iip'iiTifiPi 



iSE" O iSTi^i ItSjiK I* 



SPRINQ WHIFFLETREE 





AND 



OX SPRING, 



BOTH UNDER ONE PATENT. 



Very useful for balky or discouraged animals, or to pre- 
vent breakage of harness, plows, drags, mowing machines, 
or any farming implements ; useful for cars, canal boats, &c. 

Youns; horses can now work among rocks as well as old 
ones. 

The driver does not get hurt with the plow handles. 

A horse will draw fifty times without being discouraged. 

It serves as a cushion for the horse's breast. 

Springs only when striking an obstruction. 

Very durable. 

This appears like a good improvement. — Sc'mitific Amer- 



ican. 



H. A. COOK, Patentee. 

HIL.I.SDAE.E, COI>. CO., N. If. 



